Chapter VII
Airbenders in Town
Since the bandit attack during the storm, everything around the Air trio had become quite still. Mao barely said a word and Yomi and Chiko didn't talk about it. It became one of the taboo subjects in the group. It wasn't exactly forbidden per se—it was just…not polite to mention it. It was the same with the attack on the temple, Nami's death, and the war; there were some things that trio didn't want to talk about. After a while, the air became less stuffy and an unspoken and mutual sense of forgiveness and peace returned. For a while after the rampage Mao did nothing but chant "I am sorry" over and over into the night, asking for some ghost of the dead to forgive him. But after a week of this behavior he more or less returned to normal. Or some form of it. The trio didn't dwell on what happened. It happened and that was that.
As the days went on, the summer solstice arrived unceremoniously with an increase of mosquitoes, gnats, biteyflies, wasps, scorpionbees, and sweatflies. The trio began to loathe bugs in every incarnation. Chiko hated biteyflies the most, aptly named because they bite. Hard. Chiko spent a very uncomfortable evening when one of said-insects decided that the boy's inner thigh was a nice place to grab a meal. Dangerously close to a specific and private area, Chiko was bitten, and thus began the dance-of-immense-pain. After a cold water compress between his legs and long session of stuttered curses, Chiko vowed that he would squish every biteyfly that came anywhere near his thighs.
Because of the bugs, the trio had to constantly check for lice and ticks as well as fleas, and to make sure to cook their food thoroughly to avoid digestive vermin. If Chiko hated anything more than biteyflies, it was a tapeworm. Still, as the days wore on, Chiko learned that communing with nature wasn't all bad. You just needed a lot of fleabane to cope.
Dawn graced the oiled cloth tent and tarp that the trio used as shelter during the nights. All three slept together with Chiko normally in the middle. Even though they woke up in interesting positions, they normally didn't start out that way. This particular morning Chiko was only in his loincloth and sleeping with his back halfway across Yomi's stomach and his right leg draped over Mao's back. A spot of saliva fell on Yomi's middle as Chiko tried to steal a few more minutes of sleep. Mao's snoring prevented that.
The maimed bender rolled off Yomi and sat up. Yawning and stretching his thin and bug-bitten torso, Chiko began his ritual of getting decent. He stood up and rummaged through the bags, getting soap, a fresh hanfu and trousers, and a loincloth. He smacked his lips; the sound of the waterfall and chirping birds did nothing to stir or rouse the airbender from his sleepy haze. Instead it just made him grouchier. Wading into the cool creek, Chiko stripped off his loincloth and hissed as he waded in deeper to wash up.
Mao woke up next, his hair in a brilliant display of bed-head. He yawned loudly as he got up and walked down the creek and pulled off his clothes. "Mornin' Chi," was his greeting to the freezing airbender. Chiko grumbled something as he crawled out of the creek and air dried himself. Yomi woke up last, and began washing his face and combing his tangled hair. Mao was still bathing, and Chiko was looking for a razor. Yomi began making breakfast as Mao, now clean, stepped out of the creek to get dressed again.
Chiko was shaving off the growing stubble on his chin. For a while, Chiko had a moustache and a goatee as a novelty, but later he shaved it off, no longer liking the itchy facial hair. Yomi and Mao shaved as well, though they only started recently. Washing off the razor, Chiko walked to get a clay bowl of fruit and porridge, while Mao and Yomi discussed what to do next.
"Ba Yin is nice little town, but what we know about it is next to nothing. We should be cautious and on guard, Mao. We should get more food there too," advised Yomi as he finished breakfast. Chiko sat down and ate a little. Mao had the maps out and was looking over the terrain.
"I know, Yo-brother, we should be careful. However, if we act too suspicious or guarded, that's only going to draw attention," pointed out Mao.
Yomi frowned and added, "True, but if we don't watch our backs, we could run into something nasty. We should be alert and observant of our surroundings. We don't want to be caught by the Fire Nation with our pants down." Chiko had to think about what Yomi said before he realized that he was using an idiom. Blinking, Chiko tossed in his two cents.
"I a-a-a-agree with Yomi, but Mao has a p-p-point, too. If we act like something is-is-is wr-wr-wr-wrong then we're only going inv-v-vite trouble. I say we act like w-w-what we appear. Earth Kingdom d-d-wellers. We blend in-in-in well, we don't have to be w-w-worried about b-b-being caught." Yomi looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded. Chiko was right; they should just play it cool. Smiling fondly, he ruffled the youngest's hair.
"You're turning into quite the man, Chiko."
Leaving camp and only taking what they needed, they headed to Ba Yin to get supplies and to take in the town. News was also good and just as valuable to food and supplies. It was how the trio knew where the Fire Nation was and where to go to avoid them. However, the three didn't know anything about Ba Yin or the surrounding villages. They got quite a surprise when they reached town sometime around noon. Yomi gawked at the Fire Nation flag and the presence of military personnel. There was mutual "oh damn" feeling as the trio casually walked to the gate.
A guard looked at them suspiciously and asked, "Where you are from? Do you have identification?" Yomi gulped but Mao pulled out a small scroll and handed it to him. The guard looked at the pass Midori made for them, stating that they were from Mu Ten and were her family. The guard handed the pass back to Mao and nodded. "Enjoy your stay, boys, keep out of trouble." The trio entered the now-colony of the Fire Nation with a sense of dread.
The they found the village to be a juxtaposition of Fire Nation order and Earth Kingdom diversity and variety. It turned out that Ba Yin merged with the other nearby communities and became the Colony of Fazul, named after the general who took it over a year and a half before. The trio sighed as they felt awkward in a place they should have done their research on. Still, they were camouflaged and nobody should be able to pin them as nomads. As he walked down the street, Chiko's eyes widened when they found a small bookshop. Chiko squealed in delight. He hadn't read a good book in years. This was an opportunity, indeed. Chiko strolled in with his brothers behind him, bouncing on his toes.
"Please, Yomi! C-c-an you buy me a book! P-p-p-lease!!" Chiko begged, tugging Yomi's hanfu.
He sighed and said in a rather annoyed voice, "Later, Chi. We can buy you a book later."
Mao found a scroll on sword katas that he could use with his jian. Yomi was looking at a book on herbs and edible plants in the Earth Kingdom. Chiko was meandering around as the store clerk watched them, hoping they would actually buy something. Chiko was hoping for a nice collection of children's stories or maybe a book on adventurers and brave warriors. He missed the old tales in the temple. An ache of his childhood hit him as he walked about. Chiko hoped for a nice collection of children's stories or maybe a book on adventurers and brave warriors. He missed the old tales in the temple. He walked over to Chiko and tapped his left shoulder. Chiko whirled around, and faced the store clerk. A potbellied man with a thin mustache and oily hair, watched them, hoping they would actually buy something. An ache of his childhood hitting him as he walked about, Chiko whirled around to face him.
"Can I help you find something, dear boy?"
Chiko was going to ask if he had stories about Avatar Kyohru, or if he carried The Heart of Heaven, which was a collection of airbender stories and parables told in the temples and caravans. Chiko knew that someone wrote them all down and even made copies. He found one in the southern temple a long time ago.
But now that he thought about it, it would cause a lot of awkward follow-up questions, so he asked,
"Do you have anything ab-b-b-bout the different sp-sp-spirits in the Earth K-k-k-kingdom or an ad-ad-adventure st-st-story?" The clerk looked at him oddly for moment before smiling.
"Oh yes, I think we have something you might like. So you like a good adventure story, a nice epic, what a nice child you are, we just got a bunch of these from the homeland, you might like them." The paper-bound book the clerk handed him both horrified and oddly amused Chiko. The book was called The Tale of the Sun Bright Brothers and the Demon Priests of Air. He looked at the cover, which had a horrible image of two firebenders fighting an ugly-looking monk with red eyes, bloody arrow tattoos, and a forked tongue. Chiko flipped through the pages, finding a portrayal of the Air Nomads as monstrous child-eating creatures and the "Sun Bright" brothers who were blessed by Agni to stop the hideous fiends from devouring "Agni's children." The whole story was nothing more than Fire Nation propaganda, and Chiko couldn't help but smirk and snicker at it. It was hilarious and, at the same time, terrible. He put down the book and shook his head.
"No thanks, sir."
The clerk walked back to the desk as Chiko found a very torn copy of The Hogmonkey King. This was the jackpot of folk stories he was looking for; he picked it up as Yomi went to purchase a book on edible and medicinal plants.
"Did you find something nice, songbird?" Yomi said as he turned around, Chiko showed him the torn book, and Yomi bought them both. Mao didn't buy anything, but looked at the propagandized children's stories on a shelf by the clerk's desk.
"Hey, Yomi, look at this," Mao called out as Yomi was about to leave. He walked back to Mao and picked up a copy.
He flipped through the pages as the clerk said, "That came from the homeland a month ago. It's a favorite for little boys, and I was trying to get your brother to buy one." Yomi placed it back on the self as he shook his head.
"We don't have the money to get another book. We need to get food. I am sorry." The clerk sighed and leaned back in his chair.
In the afternoon, lunch was a bowl of ramen and a few apples. Yomi did some shopping as Chiko strolled down the streets. He told Chiko to meet him at the gates at dusk, reminding him to pay attention to the position of the sun; however, Chiko was soon distracted as he found a group of Earth Kingdom boys playing some sort of game. Their golds and bright greens clothing caught his attention. As the five boys kicked around an animal skin ball, Chiko sat on a rock and watched them. It looked like a casual game of soccer. Chiko began to see the patterns and techniques used by the boys, and when one scored a goal everyone jumped up and down and congratulated each other.
One boy around Chiko's age, with brown eyes and curly hair turned to him.
"Hey, kid, you want to play with us?" Chiko nodded as he swung to his feet. The curly-haired kid was wearing short trousers and a bandana. He walked up to Chiko and held out his hand.
"You're new aren't you? I'm Kang Lei, welcome to Ba Yin. You are staying for a while?" Chiko nodded shyly. Kang Lei beckoned his friends over
"Let me introduce you to the gang," Kang pointed to a tall kid with short black hair. "That's Shen, and his little brother is Huan; over there is Bo Qin and Li Fen. What's your name?"
Chiko didn't like new people. With a timid voice, he said, "I'm Ch-ch-Chiko…Nice to m-m-meet you." He shook Kang's hand and stood up.
Shen looked him over. "Hey, you're pretty tall and you got good legs. He'll be great next game." Chiko tapped the ground nervously with his foot and looked at his left side. He felt useless without his arm, but he noticed that for this game no arms were necessary. Bo spoke up and pointed at Chiko.
"Hey, do you need to know how to play?" Chiko shook his head and explained.
"Nah, I've w-w-watched you play. It's e-e-e-easy. I can learn f-f-fast." Bo clapped him on the shoulder.
"Okay, new guy is with me and Huan. Kang Li and Shen are one team. Okay?" Chiko nodded as he got on Bo and Huan's side. Bo shouted to a little girl who was playing with dolls and chalk.
"Jiao, you need to toss the ball up, okay?"
The little girl nodded and picked up the ball, "Okay, get w'edy. One, two fwee!" She placed the ball in the middle and ran from the pitch, shouting "Go!" Kang lunged forward and scooped up the ball with his right foot and made a steady drive to the goal. But Chiko caught up and intercepted the ball, moving it the other way. As Shen ran after him, Chiko suddenly passed it to Bo." Bo kicked to the goal and got a point. Chiko, Bo, and Huan cheered.
"Wow! Chiko, you're a natural! Did you play this before?" Bo exclaimed. Chiko shrugged.
"Once…or a f-few times when we p-p-pass villages. I learn b-b-y watching." Huan patted him on the back and said,
"I figure someone lucky like you would show up! We need a boost. Kang Lei keeps dominating." Kang rolled his eyes.
"Are you girls done yet? Let's play." The game started back up again. Chiko noticed that Kang was very controlling with the ball, but Chiko was aggressive as well. : He did a trick with balancing the ball on his head. Then he dropped it on the ground, passing it to Huan, who drove it with his feet toward the goal. Yet, as if out of nowhere, Li suddenly appeared to steal the ball. Taking it back across the yard to his own goal, he successfully scored his team a point. Despite the fact Chiko's team led for most of the game with three points, Li's team was actually the first to reach five, winning them the game. Their victory was largely due to Kang's determination and skill. The kids congratulated Chiko as a "good player" and a natural.
Kang walked to a small bridge and the others followed, including little Jiao. They all sat together and played in the creek, some splashing in the clear water and some sitting in the shade. Chiko watched the water flow as he thought about the kids he met. They were so welcoming and kind. They didn't mention his stutter or his stump. They let him play without asking questions. It was very comforting to be accepted like that.
He looked at Kang, who was splashing in the water with Bo. He smiled and said clearly,"Thank you, Kang." Kang Lei looked up and waved it aside.
"Aww, it's okay, you don't have to thank me. We needed another player, that's all. Don't think about it."
Chiko shook his head. He spoke again, "For not teasing me. Y-y-you didn't laugh at-at-at my s-stutter or s-s-stare at my left side; I th-th-thank you for that." He looked at everyone. Bo, who now was sitting next to Chiko, shrugged.
"Why should we tease you? You didn't do nuthin' and I've seen kids and grown-ups without legs or arms. It's no big deal. You could still play with us." Li Fen climbed a plum tree and picked a few for everyone. "My big brother Ren Shu lost his leg last year. He hates it. He's an earthbender and he can't bend well because of it. He's thinking about making himself a fake stone leg…uhh, Huan, what is it called again?" Li Fen asked, Huan looked up from his nap in the shade.
"It's called a prosthetic limb, doofus." Li nodded.
"Yeah, that. Why don't you get a pros-sta-tick, Chiko? It would be less noticeable, and it'd be a cool trick to scare people with it." Li tucked his arm in his shirt and ran around with a stick protruding from his sleeve. Kang shook his head in annoyance.
"Li, don't hurt yourself," Kang said. Chiko shrugged absently, not really liking the idea of a wooden arm. Jiao, who had been playing with her dolls and picking flowers, gave one to Chiko.
"How did you looth your arm, Chi-to? Did it hurt real bad?"
Bo made a harsh Shhh! " Jiao, you don't ask that! It's impolite." Jiao's big brown eyes softened at the chastisement.
"I'm sowwy, Chi-to, I don't want to hurt your fweelings," she said shyly. Chiko laughed and tucked the flower in her hair.
"You don't have to ap-ap-polo-lo-gize. It's okay, Jiao, you're c-c-curious, nothing wr-wrong with that." Jiao brightened and began to play with her dolls again. They all turned to see if he would answer Jiao's question. Li prompted him again.
"Chiko, you don't have to, but if it's ok, tell us how you lost your arm."
Chiko curled up and tucked his legs in. He looked at Kang and everyone and whispered, "You swear to your s-s-spirits never ever to-to-to t-t-ell anyone about w-w-w-what I am going to-to-to-to tell you. Swear it!" Kang motioned to his friends to keep quiet, before edging closer to him. Kang spat on his hand and held it out.
"I swear on the name of Hei Bai, the guardian of the forest, not to repeat this. Y'all better do the same," he said, looking over his shoulder to his friends, who also swore never, ever to tell. Chiko shook Kang's hand. Slowly he began to retell the story of what happened.
Chiko decided it was time to go back in time. Back to that night, when the bison fell, when the burning of the temple could be seen for miles, when he could smell the burnt flesh of his brothers. It was time to confront this, and go forward. For long years, he never spoke about that night with his brothers. Instead, he dwelled in those memories and each night he returned to die over and over. It was time to move on.
"I don't know h-h-how to start…but I re-remember who woke me f-f-first. It was Yomi. He w-w-woke me and screamed 'We're under attack!' smelt the f-f-fire, I smelt the burnt b-b-b-bodies, I saw the bodies of th-those people I knew. I was r-r-running I don't know wh-where; I just wanted to r-r-run from the-the-the attack! I heard screams. I c-c-could see my family f-f-fighting and dying. And I saw one." Chiko was shaking and his voice was unsteady, but there was a hidden determination. Kang wanted to lay a hand on him but knew that would just startle him, so he let Chiko continue.
"He looked at me. I was ch-ch-child. A scared little b-b-b-boy. It didn't matter to him. I pushed a b-b-b-boy out of the w-w-way as the s-s-soldier's spear c-c-came down on my arm. I felt it. It b-b-burned, j-j-just like fire. I t-t-tried to scream, nothing came out. I lay on the g-g-g-round. And all I c-c-c-could think was why? W-w-why are the s-s-spirits doing this t-t-to us? What d-d-did we do wrong? And then h-h-he came, he p-p-picked me up and c-c-carried me to my b-b-brothers and w-we got away. I c-c-can feel it now s-s-sometimes. My arm. It's l-l-like it's there b-b-but it hurts."
Silence passed between the group; all of them just stared at Chiko, dumbfounded. Kang Lei looked at the running water and sighed.
"Wow, Chiko…it took guts to recall all of that. You're pretty brave, you know?" Bo frowned and said.
"Sounds like a lot of our stories. Villages being raided and burned down. I'm sorry, Chi, it must been a pain to remember all that. I know Shen tries to forget how his village got burned down." Shen huffed, and shrugged. "It was a long time ago, and it wasn't Fire Nation, it was just normal bandits. Still, tragedy is tragedy. Point is, we all got fucked in the ass because of this war."
"Shut it! My little sister is right there; watch your mouth!" Bo smacked him on the shoulder. Huan laughed and stood up to get another plum.
"Well, despite the war, we should be grateful that we are not dead. You know? Sh-I mean stuff could be worse, we could be all dead like the Nomads. Mom says that they're all gone thanks to the Fire Nation. They killed them all." Jiao looked up and frowned, pulling her lip in a cute pout.
"Why would the Fire Nation do somefing so mean?" Huan was going to say something but Chiko spoke first.
"Because they w-w-want the Avatar, Jiao. It's h-h-his fault this w-w-war even started." Everyone looked at him again. Kang and Shen nodded.
"Mom says it's both their faults. Roku and Aang. Roku didn't prevent it when the Fire Nation started to have colonies on the coast. And Aang did nothing, either."
Chiko realized, despite his confession, they didn't know that he was an Air Nomad. They all thought he was Earth Kingdom villager. Finding it fascinating, he said, "Laying the N-n-n-nations into the hands of a ch-ch-child is a f-f-foolish thing to do. Aang maybe is a g-g-god but neverthel-l-less he is still a child. And he r-r-reacted the same as all ch-children do. With fear. Yet, I'm s-s-still angry. He put h-h-himself before his people. He was a s-s-spoiled brat wh-who put h-h-himself first." The other kids nodded and regarded Chiko's words with a sort of quiet and mutual understanding. Some regarded his words with awe. Leaving the world into the hands of little boy was a foolish thing to do. A child cannot save a world on the cusp of war.
The sun started to set and Chiko got up to head to the gate. He said goodbye to his new friends. Kang Lei started to follow him.
"Hey! Hey, Chi, wait up for a second." Chiko was away from the group and heading back to the main streets when Kang caught him. Chiko turned to face the boy with the bandana. "When you talked about Aang the Avatar, the tone in your voice…it sounded like you knew him. You sound hurt, like your best friend stabbed you in the back."
Chiko grimaced. So he was caught. He looked into Kang's eyes and whispered low, "Please don't t-t-tell your friends what I'm t-t-telling you." Kang nodded, feeling the maimed boy's hesitation.
"Kang…I lost my a-a-arm at the Southern A-a-air Temple. My brothers and I a-a-are survivors of the massacre. I am Air N-n-omad." The confession felt raw and painful, as if Chiko was completely naked in front of Kang. The boy looked at Chiko with a sense of amazement.
"I… I thought, but I never really realized. Gods…gods. You did know Aang." Kang sighed and turned around.
"Take care, Chiko." Chiko understood his reaction.
It was like seeing a dead man come back to life.
AN: Well we've finally got Chapt 7 done, Chapt 8 is coming up. I do want to thank two very special people. First is Bob aka Nephandi who was my first beta and been with the boys since chapt 2 then second person I want to thank is PetetheChameleon, who now is my second beta (my beta beta lol) to help edit and grammar check my fic without either of their advice, encouragement and friendship, I would have given up a long time ago. Thanks boys! Also I want to recommend reading "The Pipa Player" by PetertheChameleon. It's the adventures of a Fire Avatar named Hikoshu, it's an awesome fic for anyone that like OCs.
Bard Child.